Webinar: Into the fire

TORONTO, Ontario: On May 1, 2012 MM&D hosted a very popular, live webinar titled, Into the Fire: Learn about pending changes to cross-border pallet rules.

Now that webinar is available for viewing.

The presenter was Bill Eggertson, executive general manager of the Canadian Wood Pallet and Container Association. The moderator was MM&D editor, Carolyn Gruske.

Bill explained how the US is unilaterally changing the rules to prevent untreated wooden pallets from crossing the border. He spoke about the changes business are going to have to make in order to continue shipping goods to the US, what it’s going to cost and when this is all going to happen.

After the formal presentation, a long and lively Q&A session followed. Among the questions asked and answered were:

• How is CBP / CRA going to enforce this especially when you pull a truck over for inspection will it have to be de-stuffed?
• Where do we find the list of facilities that are certified to heat treat pallets?
• How much do you expect it will cost to re-certify the pallets?
• Because this is supposed to be a paperless system, is anything being done to A) educate people; B) dealing with unwarranted request?

The formal presentation lasts approximately 20 minutes. The Q&A is about 45 minutes.